kraft etal



March 24, 1964 KRAFr L 3,125,818

MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ELEVATION OF SNOW PLOW WING BLADES Filed Oct. 29, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 .2 a a s3 :8 2 n a d a 8 m 5'! m 3 2 o 3- g 0 J. 3 E a I INVENTORS FRANK B. KRAFT GEORGE RODGER ATTORNEYS March 1954 F. B. KRAFI' ETAL MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ELEVATION OF sNow PLOW WING BLADES Filed Oct. 29, 1962 Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

INVENTORS NK B. KRAFT GEORGE RODGER ATTORNEYS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 6

mvem'ons FRANK B. KRAFT GEORGE RODGER sway/2 ATTORNEYS F. 5. KRAFT ETAL MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ELEVATION OF SNOW PLOW WING BLADES Filed Oct. 29, 1962 United States Patent j 7 3,125,813 MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ELEVATION 0F SNOW PLOW WING BLADES Frank B. Kraft, Kitchener, Ontario, and George Rodger,

Gait, Ontario, Canada, assignors to Hamstell Corporation Limited, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Filed Oct. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 233,527 Claims priority, application Canada Oct. 28, 1961 '7 Claims. or. 31-42 This invention relates to means for adjusting the elevation of snow plow wing blades, and is particularly concerned with the raising and lowering of the rear ends of such blades.

Wing blades of snow plows are normally supported by slides connected to the front and rear ends of the blades, the slides being movable upwardly and downwardly on front and rear posts mounted .on the plow vehicle. The slide on the rear post or frame, is usually connected to the rear end of the wing blade by a pair of parallel elongated braces, this slide being adjusted in elevation by means of a double acting ram having a reciprocable piston attached to the slide. The elevation to which the slide can be raised is therefore determined by the stroke of the piston. For some plowing tasks this limitation on the amount that the slide can be raised is undersirable. A partial solution to the problem has been provided by the apparatus described in Canadian Patent 609,001, issued November 22, 1960, to John R. Sumner and John W. Renahan and entitled Snow Plow Structure. It is the object of this invention to provide another solution.

According to the present invention, the usual ram for operating the slide of the rear end wing support is not fixed to the slide but is moved out of the path of the slide and is coupled thereto by a mechanism which, when the ram is operated, causes the slide to move a greater distance than it would if attached to the ram itself. The invention also provides a neat assembly of the devices for elevating both the front and rear ends of the side wing.

The invention will be clearly understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a snow plow wing blade mounted on the side of a truck;

FIGURE 2 is a cut away rear view of the rear part or frame, looking from the rear towards the front of the truck in the direction of the arrows 2--2 of FIGURE 1 and showing means for elevating the rear end of the blade, with some of the mechanism on the post removed for clarity;

FIGURE 3 is a side View of the rear post looking in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIGURE 2, with some parts removed or broken away for clarity;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a cut-away front view of the rear post and associated structure.

A wing blade 1 is supported from a vehicle 2 with the front end 3 of the blade leading the rear end 4 as the vehicle moves forwardly. The blade has a front support generally indicated by reference numeral 5 and a rear support generally indicated by reference numeral 6. The front and rear supports each include an upright frame or post 7 and 8 respectively. These posts are secured at their lower ends to the vehicle, and at their upper ends are braced by a connecting beam 8b. The posts 7 and 8 are I-beams and each constitutes a guideway for a blade elevating member or slide 9 and 10 respectively. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 5, the slide 10 is slidably held adjacent the web of the I-beam 8 by elongated strips 8a welded to the flanges of the I-beam. The slide 9 is similarly slidably held to the front post 7.

The blade 1 can be supported from the slides 9 and 10 by any conventional or desired means. Briefly, however, the front slide 9 supports a pivot member 11 which is swi-ngable about a vertical axis on the slide 9. The pivot member 11 supports a bearing plate 13 swingatble about a horizontal axis on the pivot member, and the bearing plate supports the front end 3 of the blade. The vertical and horizontal axis of the pivot member provides a universal joint connection of the blade to the slide 9. The rear slide 1.13 is connected through universal joints 14 to a pair of parallel braces 15 and 16 which extend outwardly and forwardly to the rear end 4 of the blade, the lower brace 16 being connected to the blade through a universal joint 17 and the upper brace 15 being connected to a bearing plate 18 through a universal joint 19. The bearing plates 13 and '18 are journalled to the blade at their lower ends 20, so that the blade can tilt forwardly relative to the bearing plate, but the blade is normally held in the untilted position shown, against the bearing plate, by means of elongated torsion bars 21 fastened between each bearing plate and an angle 22 attached to the rear of the blade midway between its ends.

At the side of the post 8 opposite from the slide 10 and its guideway is a housing 23 for mechanism for raising and lowering the slide. As seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, this mechanism includes a double acting hydraulic ram 24 having a cylinder 25 supported at one end by a bracket 26 near the top of the post and at the other end by a clamp 27. The ram has a reciprocable piston 28 carrying a pulley block 29 which it can reciprocate in a vertical direc tion in guides 30 fixed to the post 8. For the raising and lowering of the slide 11? on the post, a cable 31 is fixed to the slide by clamps 32 as best seen in FIGURES 2 and 5. From the slide 10 a first length of the cable 3 1 runs, at 31a, up and over an upper sheave 33 that is rotatably mounted on a horizontal axis by means of brackets 34 at the upper part of the post 8. From the sheave 33 the cable runs, at 31b, down and around a first sheatve 35 rotatably mounted in the block -29, and thence the cable runs up, at 31c, to a point of securement 36 on the post 8. When the ram is operated tomove the block 29 downwardly, the slide 10 is pulled upwardly a distance equal to twice the distance of travel of the block.

For lowering the slide 10, the cable 31 has a second length which runs downwardly from the slide, as at 31d, around a lower sheave 37 rotatably mounted near the bottom of the post on an axis transverse to the post, and the cable then runs upwardly, as at 31c, over a second sheave 38 mounted in the block 29 and then down at 31 to a point of securement 39 on the post 8. Thus, upward movement of the block 29 causes the slide 10 to be pulled down the post 8 a distance equal to twice the distance of travel of the block.

For raising and lowering the front slide 9 additional mechanism is provided in the housing 23 of the rear part 8. As seen in FIGURE 3, this mechanism consists of a double acting hydraulic ram 44) having a cylinder 41 supported at one end by a bracket 42 and at the other end by the clamp 27. The ram 49 has a reciprocable piston 43 carrying a pulley block 44 which is reciprocable vertically in guides 45 on the post 8. For the raising of the slide 9 on the front post 7, a cable 46 is fixed to the slide and from the slide extends upwardly, as at 46a, over a sheave 47 mounted near the top of the front post 7, and thence the cable extends, as at 466, parallel to the beam 8b to a sheave 48 (FIGURE 3) at the top of the rear post 8, and from there the cable runs downwardly, as at 46c, and around a sheave 49 mounted in the block 44. From the sheave 49 the cable runs upwardly as at 46d over a sheave t that it rotatably mounted near the top of the post 8, and finally the cable runs down, as at 462 to a point of securement 51 on the block 44. Thus, when the piston 43 is extended from the cylinder 41 the cable 46 pulls the front slide 9 upwardly a distance equal to three times the distance of travel of the block 44. The front slide does not require a downwardly pulling cable length because the slide carries the weight of the front end of the blade 1 and this weight is sufficient to pull the slide downwardly as the piston 43 is retracted.

Because of the universal joints 14, 17 and 19 of the braces 15 and 16, the movement of the rear slide is not transmitted to the rear end 4 of the blade, and to raise the rear end a cable 52 is inserted at 53 to the blade and runs at 52a upwardly over a sheave 54 supported from the top of the rear post of frame 8. From the sheave 54 the cable passes at 52b through a slot 55 in the post 8, over another sheave 56 (FIGURE 6) on the post, thence down at 52c and around a sheave 57 near the bottom of the housing 23, and thence up at 52d over a sheave 58 which is carried by the piston 59 of a double acting ram 60. From the sheave 53 the cable runs down to a point of securement 61 on the post 8. Operation of the ram 6% extends the piston 59 and the resulting movement of the sheave 58 causes the cable 52 to be pulled a distance equal to twice the distance of travel of the piston 59.

If the vehicle is to be driven along the highway, the blade may be swung out of the way, from the position of FIGURE 1, by operating the ram 60 to pull the cable 52 and raise the rear end 4 of the blade up close to the top of the rear post 8, the rear end of the blade being swingable upwardly and inwardly because of the universal joint connections 14, 17 and 19 of the braces and 16 and because of the universal joint connection provided by the pivot member 11 at the front end 3 of the blade.

When the blade is to be used for plowing its slides 9 and Ill can be raised and lowered to the full vertical extent of the front and rear posts, the rams being located on the opposite side of the rear post 8 from the slide It and thus being out of the path of the slide 10.

Hydraulic control for the rams 24, 40 and 60 are conveniently located in a cabinet 62 alongside the housing 23.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a snow plowing device having a wing blade, a rear end support for the blade comprising a frame providing at one side an upright guideway, a blade elevating member reciprocable upwardly and downwardly on the guideway, an upper sheave rotatably mounted on the upper part of the frame, a lower sheave rotatably mounted on the lower part of the frame, a fluid operated ram mounted on the opposite side of the frame from the guideway and having a part reciprocable downwardly and upwardly, a first and a second sheave rotatably mounted on the reciprocable part of the ram, a first cable length fixed to the elevating member and passing therefrom upwardly around the upper sheave and thence downwardly around the first sheave and thence to a point of securement, and a second cable length fixed to the elevating member and passing'therefrom downwardly around the lower sheave and thence upwardly around the second sheave and thence to a point of securement, downward and upward movement of the reciprocable part of the ram thus causing the first and second cable lengths respectively to raise and lower the elevating member by equal amounts greater than the distance of movement of said reciprocable part.

2. In a snow plowing device as claimed in claim 1, a front end support for the blade comprising a front post, a front elevating member for the blade reciprocable upwardly and downwardly on the post, additional sheaves rotatably mounted on the upper parts of the post and the frame, a second fluid operated ram mounted on said opposite side of the frame and having a reciprocable part movable downwardly and upwardly, a sheave rotatably mounted on the reciprocable part of the second ram, and a third cable length fixed to the front elevating member and passing upwardly therefrom around the additional sheave on the post and thence around the additional sheave on the frame and thence downwardly around the sheave on the reciprocable part of the second ram and thence to a point of securement, downward movement of the reciprocable part of the second ram thus causing the third cable length to raise the front elevating member by an amount greater than the distance of movement of the reciprocable part of the second ram.

3, In a snow plowing device as claimed in claim 2, an arrangement wherein the first and second cable lengths pass directly from the first and second sheaves to their points of securement, which are on the frame, whereby said equal amounts by which the first and second cable lengths raise and lower the elevating member are substantially twice the distance of movement of the reciprocable part of the associated ram.

4. In a snow plowing device as claimed in claim 3, an arrangement wherein the third cable length passes upwardly from the sheave on the reciprocable part of the second ram and around a sheave rotatably mounted on the frame and thence downwardly to its point of securement, which is on the reciprocable part of the second ram, whereby said amount by which the third cable length raises the front elevating member is substantially three times the distance of movement of the reciprocable part of the second ram.

5. In a snow plowing device as claimed in claim 1, means for raising the rear end of the blade towards the upper part of the frame, comprising another sheave rotatably mounted on the upper part of the frame, a ram located at the opposite side of the frame from the blade and having a reciprocable part, and a fourth cable length connected to the rear end of the blade and extending over said other sheave and pulled by the reciprocable part of the last mentioned ram.

6. In a snow plowing device as claimed in claim 4, means for raising the rear end of the blade towards the upper part of the frame, comprising another sheave rotatably mounted on the upper part of the frame, a ram located at the opposite side of the frame from the blade and having a reciprocable part, and a fourth cable length connected to the rear end of the blade and extending over said other sheave and pulled by the reciprocable part of the last mentioned ram.

7. In a snow plowing device having a wing blade, a rear end support for the blade comprising an upright guideway, a blade elevating member reciprocable upwardly and downwardly on the guideway, an upper sheave rotatably mounted on an axis transverse to the guideway at the upper part thereof, a cable length fixed to the elevating member and passing therefrom upwardly around the upper sheave, a ram having a reciprocable part and a rotatable sheave carried by the reciprocable part and around which the cable length passes after passing around said upper sheave, the ram being located out of the path of the elevating member on the guideway, means provid ng a point of securement 'for the cable length after passing around the ram sheave whereby movement of the reciproqable part of the ram in one direction is transmitted to the elevating member by and is multiplied by the mitted to the elevating member by and is multiplied by cable length to raise the elevating member, a lower sheave the second cable length to lower the elevating member, rotatably mounted on an axis transverse to the guideway the multiplication of movement being equal for the two at the lower part thereof, a second rotatable sheave carcable lengths.

ried by the reciprocable part of the ram, and a second 5 cable length fixed to the elevating member and passing References Clted m the file of this patent therefrom downwardly around the lower sheave and UNITED TES PATENTS thence around said second sheave and to a point of secure- 2,101,666 Austin Dec. 7, 1937 ment whereby movement of the reciprocable part of the 2,193,532 Frink Mar. 12, 1940 ram in a direction opposite to said one direction is trans- 10 2,991,566 Sumner July 11, 1961 

1. IN A SNOW PLOWING DEVICE HAVING A WING BLADE, A REAR END SUPPORT FOR THE BLADE COMPRISING A FRAME PROVIDING AT ONE SIDE AN UPRIGHT GUIDEWAY, A BLADE ELEVATING MEMBER RECIPROCABLE UPWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY ON THE GUIDEWAY, AN UPPER SHEAVE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE UPPER PART OF THE FRAME, A LOWER SHEAVE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE LOWER PART OF THE FRAME, A FLUID OPERATED RAM MOUNTED ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE FRAME FROM THE GUIDEWAY AND HAVING A PART RECIPROCABLE DOWNWARDLY AND UPWARDLY, A FIRST AND A SECOND SHEAVE ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE RECIPROCABLE PART OF THE RAM, A FIRST CABLE LENGTH FIXED TO THE ELEVATING MEMBER AND PASSING THEREFROM UPWARDLY AROUND THE UPPER SHEAVE AND THENCE DOWNWARDLY AROUND THE FIRST SHEAVE AND THENCE TO A POINT OF SECUREMENT, AND A SECOND CABLE LENGTH FIXED TO THE ELEVATING MEMBER AND PASSING THEREFROM DOWNWARDLY AROUND THE LOWER SHEAVE AND THENCE UPWARDLY AROUND THE SECOND SHEAVE AND THENCE TO A POINT OF SECUREMENT, DOWNWARD AND UPWARD MOVEMENT OF THE RECIPROCABLE PART OF THE RAM THUS CAUSING THE FIRST AND SECOND CABLE LENGTHS RESPECTIVELY TO RAISE AND LOWER THE ELEVATING MEMBER BY EQUAL AMOUNTS GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE OF MOVEMENT OF SAID RECIPROCABLE PART. 